This review contains spoilers
5/5 can come across as an inflated score, but I'd like to make the case for it here. I'm going to spoil a good bit of it, so scroll down at your own peril if you haven't played it and formed your own opinion yet.
Indigo right off the bat addresses the tedium of a slow running-speed in the 3D games, but with the Resident Evil twist of you running slowly with a weapon in hand (RE's influences manifest in other areas later). It also starts with Deku Sticks being your primary weapon, which would've been an interesting (but remains unexplored) premise in Ocarina of Time. This section also introduces Bomb Flowers that need their fuse lit manually, and a boomerang that can take an item from a living enemy (think Grappling Hook from Wind Waker) while also introducing a precision-aiming mechanic where holding R zooms in the camera and slows the aiming-pan speed.
The game expands from here by reintroducing a large number of items from the 2D games (Roc's Feather, Quake Medallion, Pegasus Boots, Shovel, Zora Flippers) with fully realized implementations of them in a 3D world. It also brings over a number of enemies that will be familiar to anyone who played A Link to the Past. Some other QoL changes are in effect, such as a fast climbing-speed and having your aim persist without resetting when you let go of the control-stick in first-person.
The horse has also been completely revamped. It features a much faster base running-speed, can jump at any time, and appears directly next to any loading-zone on the field (which makes summoning it unnecessary).
This has nothing on the new content though. Every dungeon and area is new. There is no recycled content from any 3D Zelda. The closest is an intensely refined version of a new Deku Tree that is far more perilous, which is in the midst of an unforgiving Kokiri village where there will be consequences for ignoring the warnings of NPCs. The followup of a nightmare ship lost at sea filled with traps is the best 'water level' in the IP. The crown jewel of the demo is a dungeon that is comprised of what's essentially an entire village. A standout new enemy is a Redead that continuously resurrects unless its body is burned. There's also some classic survival-horror progression where reading memos for their clues is necessary to figure out how to progress.
To those of you who ignored the spoiler warning, there's more to see than what I've outlined here. The original equipment and the new minibosses are worth the price of admission alone (which is that it's free). If any of this sounds interesting, don't hesitate to try this demo out. For my taste at least, it's potentially going to be the best 3D Zelda game in the series once it's finished.
The demo alone is the most concentrated fun I've had with the Zelda IP since it was introduced to 3D. Without getting swallowed up by the hype, I could easily picture this standing alongside the best of the series once it's finished.
Indigo right off the bat addresses the tedium of a slow running-speed in the 3D games, but with the Resident Evil twist of you running slowly with a weapon in hand (RE's influences manifest in other areas later). It also starts with Deku Sticks being your primary weapon, which would've been an interesting (but remains unexplored) premise in Ocarina of Time. This section also introduces Bomb Flowers that need their fuse lit manually, and a boomerang that can take an item from a living enemy (think Grappling Hook from Wind Waker) while also introducing a precision-aiming mechanic where holding R zooms in the camera and slows the aiming-pan speed.
The game expands from here by reintroducing a large number of items from the 2D games (Roc's Feather, Quake Medallion, Pegasus Boots, Shovel, Zora Flippers) with fully realized implementations of them in a 3D world. It also brings over a number of enemies that will be familiar to anyone who played A Link to the Past. Some other QoL changes are in effect, such as a fast climbing-speed and having your aim persist without resetting when you let go of the control-stick in first-person.
The horse has also been completely revamped. It features a much faster base running-speed, can jump at any time, and appears directly next to any loading-zone on the field (which makes summoning it unnecessary).
This has nothing on the new content though. Every dungeon and area is new. There is no recycled content from any 3D Zelda. The closest is an intensely refined version of a new Deku Tree that is far more perilous, which is in the midst of an unforgiving Kokiri village where there will be consequences for ignoring the warnings of NPCs. The followup of a nightmare ship lost at sea filled with traps is the best 'water level' in the IP. The crown jewel of the demo is a dungeon that is comprised of what's essentially an entire village. A standout new enemy is a Redead that continuously resurrects unless its body is burned. There's also some classic survival-horror progression where reading memos for their clues is necessary to figure out how to progress.
To those of you who ignored the spoiler warning, there's more to see than what I've outlined here. The original equipment and the new minibosses are worth the price of admission alone (which is that it's free). If any of this sounds interesting, don't hesitate to try this demo out. For my taste at least, it's potentially going to be the best 3D Zelda game in the series once it's finished.
The demo alone is the most concentrated fun I've had with the Zelda IP since it was introduced to 3D. Without getting swallowed up by the hype, I could easily picture this standing alongside the best of the series once it's finished.